


sit next to me

by billnsteve



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: ., ? - Freeform, ?? - Freeform, Angst, Boys In Love, Camping, F/M, Fluff, High School, M/M, Mutual Pining, School Trip, Smut, billy has no filter around steve tbh, jonathan is a creep but i love him so whatever, lots of music references, tommy is an asshole sorry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-04
Updated: 2018-04-04
Packaged: 2019-04-18 06:16:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14206911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/billnsteve/pseuds/billnsteve
Summary: "So what exactly are we doing at- One in the morning?" Steve sighs, hopping on one foot as he tugs on his shoe and follows Billy.Billy unzips the backpack he's holding."Oh my god." Steve rubs a hand over his face but keeps following anyways."S'our first dead moms club meeting so I figured we'd have a little fun." Billy shrugs,stopping in front of the dining hall and setting his bag down.ora hawkins high camping trip in which steve and billy become friends and maybe a lot more than that?





	1. love in vain (the rolling stones)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [celicei](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=celicei).



> hiiiii this has been sitting in my fic folder forever and i decided to make it chaptered. maybe this way i'll finish it?  
> hope you like this camp-centric au

"27 bottles of beer on th-" 

"Shut the hell up! Jesus christ!" Billy yells out as the entire bus belts out the song for the sixth time in an hour.

Everyone stops for a second before continuing again and Billy sinks into his seat and crosses his arms.

"Well you tried." Steve shrugs quietly from beside him, digging through his bag.

"Fuck you, Harrington." Billy grumbles, turning to look at Steve whilst smushing half of his face into the fuzzy blue bus seat.

Steve had looked awfully pretty, his hair fluffy and pushed back from his face, a dark green sweater and some light grey sweatpants accompanied by sparkly eyes brimming with excitement, for whatever dumb reason. Probably this dumb school camping trip. Billy hates him. That's a lie. He would gladly fuck out Steve Harrington's brains if ever shown the opportunity. Would probably do anything Steve wanted if he looked into those eyes for a second longer than he knew he was supposed to. But Billy had self control. Sort of. Not really.

They had been put next to each other because of their last names, which they both had debated on changing upon finding the seating chart for this four hour long bus trip.

Steve pulls out a walkman and grins over at Billy.

"Of course, King Steve's got a god damn walkman." Billy huffs, pushing his whole face into the seat with a groan.

"Look we've got two and a half more hours to kill, Hargrove. You wanna listen to Tommy sing this shit for the rest of the way or do you want me to put on some Metallica?" Steve holds up the small cassette tape and Billy grabs it and the walkman with a grin.

"Dammit Harrington, you perfect ass motherfucker." Billy sighs happily, sliding the tape in and pressing his ear to one side of the headphones and leaning towards Steve with the other.

Steve blushes and leans over, pressing his ear up against the other side.

They sit in silence, Metallica blaring out of the headphones and Billy tapping his fingers against his sweatpants softly. Steve eventually nods off and Billy lets Steve's head lie on his shoulder after a quick glance around the bus.

He tilts his head to rest on top of Steve's and turns the music down a little, humming along quietly as Tommy and some other douchebag that follows Billy around like a leech, Jack, he thinks, start singing row, row, row your boat, loudly and obnoxiously.

Eventually the whole bus joins in and Billy stares down at Steve with a small smile.

"My god damn hero." He mumbles, pushing some hair from Steve's forehead before looking back out the window as trees fly past.

Jonathan snaps a picture from across the aisle.  
\---

When the bus pulls up to the camp, Billy pokes Steve's shoulder carefully.

"Wake up, sleepyhead." Billy pokes him in the cheek when he doesn't wake up.

"Wazzit?" Steve mumbles tiredly as he clutches onto Billy's shirt, pulling himself up into a sitting position with lidded eyes.

The bus is emptying out and Tommy doesn't wait up for Billy so Billy figures this is all perfectly okay and not in anyway could be perceived as gay to anyone who would give to flying fucks.

"We're here, Harrington. You want me to grab your stuff?" Billy says quietly as Steve blinks his eyes open and looks up.

"Um. Nope. I uh- I've got it." Steve quickly sits up and moves back a little.

"Alright. Cool. See you around I guess." Billy shrugs awkwardly, setting the walkman down on the seat and standing up.

He stretches out his back, his shirt sliding up and revealing some of his stomach. Steve can't take his eyes off of him as he grabs his stuff from the compartment above and moves to leave the bus.

"Wait uh- Bill-" Steve gulps and stands up from the seat once he's out of his daze.

Billy turns and raises an eyebrow expectantly.

"Thank you." Steve mumbles out nodding in his direction and looking down.

"Should be thanking you pretty boy." Billy smiles down at the ground with a small shrug before heading off the bus.

He grins all the way to the main office and grins even wider when he sees the cabin assignments.  
\---

"Looks like your stuck with me again." Steve awkwardly scratches his neck from where he's stood in the doorway, dufflebag in hand.

"I'd take you over Byers and Tommy any day." Billy scoffs as he nods towards the other set of bunks where they're sorting out their stuff.

"Now that is some queer shit if I've ever heard it!" Tommy barks out a laugh, tossing a pillow at Billy.

Billy catches the pillow and turns to narrow his eyes at Tommy.

"You wanna have a pillow fight with me? Shoulda just asked." Billy sneers, walking over to the window and throwing it open.

He grins crookedly back at Tommy before tossing the pillow into the dirt outside. 

"What the hell man?" Tommy sighs, walking over and peering out the window with a frown.

"Harrington, top or bottom?" Billy rolls his eyes, turning to him with a bored expression as Tommy stares out the window longingly.

"I- Wh- What?" Steve flushes with wide eyes.

"The bunks?" Billy smirks down at the ground with his arms crossed, shaking his head lightly.

"Oh- I uh- Bottom." Steve gulps, his neck and cheeks bright red as he quickly walks over and throws his stuff on it, looking anywhere but at Billy.

"Hope you don't snore Harrington, or you're gonna wake up in the lake." Billy grumbles before grabbing his cigarettes and heading out of the cabin, Tommy at his heels.

"That was uh... Interesting." Jonathan says quietly, a small smirk on his face as he looks up at Steve.

"Look man- It was a long bus ride. I'm just tired. You know?" Steve shrugs weakly, putting his stuff away in the drawer besides the bunk.

"Tired? Hm. You and Hargrove looked pretty comfy on the bus to me." Jonathan taunts, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Look- I told you and Nance about me in confidence and just cause I like guys doesn't mean I- I wanna fuck Billy Hargrove. Okay? Sure he has a perfect face and ass and he's smart and has nice eyes. But he's- You know- An asshole. So just, knock it off you dick. Unless you want this trip to end in murder." Steve groans, all of the various scenarios of Billy brutally murdering him running through his head.

"Okay, okay. Just saying though- He wouldn't let me or Tommy near those bunks- Was waiting for you." Jonathan shrugs before grabbing his camera and stopping at the door.

Steve looks down at the ground in deep concentration. 

"You coming or what, Steven?" Jonathan smirks, throwing his camera strap around his neck and sliding on some sunglasses.

"Do I have a choice?" Steve grumbles, slipping into some shoes and tossing on his own pair of sunglasses.

"I mean yeah but you also have nothing better to do? So come on." Jonathan shrugs for the umpteenth time, tugging Steve out the door and dragging him through camp and down to the lake.

 

"Why the hell did we not bring bug spray?" Steve groans as he slaps something off his arm.

Jonathan rolls his eyes as he points his camera in the direction of some yellow, cruddy canoes. Steve sat down on top of an old picnic table, looking out at the lake. Steve never really understood why Jonathan took pictures of said, stupid things, until he was shown the picture. How something so small and insigificant can look so vivid and visually stunning was incredible. He sort of wishes he was good at something. 

 

"I will punch this fucking bee, I don't give a fuck." Billy grunts as he swats at a bee hovering in front of his face, cigarette dangling from his lips as him and Tommy smoke at the edge of the woods.

"What? Big California boy not used to a few bugs?" Tommy chides, grinning around his cigarette.

"Fuck off- Soon as I graduate, I'm ditching this shithole. Hate fucking bugs. Annoying as shit. Almost as annoying as you." Billy huffs out a laugh, stomping out his cigarette and starting to walk back to the cabin.

"Hey man- I- I thought we were gonna go watch the chicks in the shower room?!" Tommy yells, hurrying after him.  
\---

Eventually Tommy saunters off to go be a creep somewhere and Billy slides into the cabin, praying it's empty.

He lucks out when he looks around to find it clear of the pretty boy he's trying to avoid. Grinning triumphantly, he digs through his bag and pulls out a small flask filled with some of his dads whiskey he managed to nab. His dad had of course noticed the night before and smacked him around a bit but Billy figured it was worth it as the smooth liquor rolled down his throat and being basically in love with steve harrington didn't seem like such a death sentence.

 

 

"Drinking alone?" Steve raises an eyebrow about an hour later, stepping inside the cabin and stopping when he sees Billy lying on his bunk with a flask lying on his chest.

It's dark by then and Billy is slightly buzzed. Buzzed enough to be lying on Steve's bunk and thinking about all the possible ways he could fuck Steve on said bunk, or Steve could fuck him. He's not picky. He startles slightly when said person walks in and breaks the long silence he had been in. The flask goes tumbling off his chest and onto the floor.

"Shit Harrington!" Billy groans as he rolls off the bed quickly and tries to save the last of the whiskey from pouring out onto the floor.

"Hey. Don't worry about it. I've got a whole bottle in my bag." Steve shrugs tiredly, rubbing his eyes before walking over to his bag and pulling said, very expensive whiskey bottle out, Billy's head shoots up from where he's on the floor behind the bed.

"How the fuck did you get your hands on this, princess?!" Billy scoffs out excitedly, jumping up, grinning as Steve twists the cap open and tosses it to the side, slumping down onto his bunk, Billy lying down next to him and kicking his feet up onto the headboard.

"Nobody cares what I do in my house. S'great isn't it?" Steve mumbles with another tired shrug before taking a huge swig from the bottle.

"Wish it was like that in my house. You get a nice two hundred dollar bottle of Indiana's finest whiskey and I get a punch in the gut and faggot spit into my face twice a day." Billy snorts, grabbing the bottle and swallowing down a good three shots worth.

"Sorry." Steve shrugs again, both of them lying on their backs and staring up at the top bunk.

"Don't be." Billy hums, drowning down some more whiskey.

"S'it your dad?" Steve mumbles quietly, turning his head to face Billy.

"Yeah, if that's what you wanna call him." Billy scoffs, turning to face Steve.

"He sounds like a really big prick." Steve tugs his bottom lip between his teeth as him and Billy lock eyes. He doesn't even know Billy's dad but he can feel his hands itching for his bat.

What kind of fucking monster hits their own kid?

"Yeah, he is. I miss my mom." Billy blurts out after staring into Steve's eyes for a few seconds, he turns and looks back up at the top bunk, clearing his throat and trying not to panic. He should never drink, ever. Especially around Steve Harrington.

"Yeah. I miss my mom too." Steve says quietly, still staring at Billy.

"Don't worry, I'm sure once these two weeks are over, she'll be back to cutting the crusts off your sandwiches, Harrington." Billy snorts, taking a long sip of the whiskey. The whiskey is a warm brown, like Steve's eyes. Like his mom's eyes. God he's wasted.

"She died. But I think I can manage cutting the crusts off myself." Steve mumbles, grabbing the bottle from Billy and taking a large swig.

"Are we gonna start a dead moms club now? Me, you- Whiskey..?" Billy grins over at Steve drunkenly and Steve rolls his eyes but smiles back.

"Didn't think you were the club type." Steve shrugs, rubbing his eyes after he sets the bottle down on the bedside table.

"Yeah well you make me wanna do weird shit, I guess." Billy says it quietly. But it's out there. Echoing in the silence that follows.

"Wanna listen to some Stones'?" Steve swallows, sitting up and pulling out his walkman.

"Yeah, Harrington. Sure." Billy sighs, staring up at the top bunk with a blank stare.

He fucked up. Day one of this stupid fucking trip and he's already told Steve about his dead mom, abusive dad and basically confessed his love for Steve as well.

He blames the whiskey.

Steve slides back into the bed next to him and places a headphone beside Billy's ear, gently pushing some of Billy's curls behind his ear.

Love in Vain plays quietly and before they both know it, they're passed out beside each other, hands just barely pressed up against each other.

 

Jonathan stumbles in about an hour later, Nancy holding his hand with a grin as he tugs her into the dark cabin. He flips the light switch on and they both still, eyes darting from Billy and Steve to the bottle and then back to Billy and Steve.

At some point, they had managed to tangle their legs together and Billy had him arm thrown over Steve. Steve was curled into Billy's chest and fisting his shirt.

"What the actual fuck?" Nancy gulps, looking to Jonathan.

Jonathan shakes his head quickly, breaking his gaze on them before swinging his camera around his shoulder and snapping a picture.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?!" Nancy squeaks quietly, punching Jonathan in the arm and grabbing for his camera.

"What? It's cute." Jonathan mumbles with a small grin.

"Yeah sure it is. Real cute." Nancy rolls her eyes before tugging Jonathan out of the cabin and switching off the lights.  
\---

Steve wakes up the next morning and Billy is sitting up next to him, leant against the wooden headboard, walkman on and his fingers drumming against his thighs as he hums along, his eyes closed. He looks over to see Jonathan asleep in his bunk and Tommy nowhere to be found.

Steve's unsure on whether or not he should move. So he settles for getting a little bit more sleep and curls further into the covers.

He feels a warm hand thread through his hair and melts at the contact.

Billy Hargrove is running his hands through his hair. They are lying in a bed beside each other. Steve doesn't think he's ever been more comfortable. The sun beaming in through the window, a warm hand running through his hair, covers tugged up to his chin.

He falls back asleep in seconds.

Billy, looks down and gulps before pulling his hand away and pulling the tape out of the tape deck. Enough of The Beach Boys and enough of Steve fucking Harrington and his stupid perfect face and smile and his overwhelming kindness. Billy pushes himself out of the bed quickly and sets the walkman on the bedside table. He spares one more glance at Steve before booking it out of the cabin. 

'Boobs Boobs Boobs Boobs Boobs. You love boobs.' he repeats in his head, like a mantra as he walks towards the breakfast hall, rubbing a hand over his face.

Whenever his brain starts shifting towards Harrington based thoughts (which is way too often), his dads voice rings somewhere inside his head, 'No son of mine is gonna be a faggot!'.

Billy's trying, really, but somehow, Billy still can't stop thinking about those bright brown eyes and how he woke up this morning, feeling a warmth in his chest he's never quite felt before, upon seeing Steve Harrington tucked into his arms and holding onto him like he actually existed.

The warmth is long gone by the time lunch rolls around and a short blonde is clinging to his arm. She holds onto him with a grip like an octopus and twirls her gum with her pink manicured finger. Tommy keeps sending Billy small winks and smirking at him whenever the blonde gets too touchy.

Billy can't decide who he wants to kill more.

Probably himself.

He looks around for Harrington and when he doesn't see him, he looks for Wheeler and Byers.

And when he sees that they're not there, he gets up from the table and goes to take a 'smoke'.

Fuck boobs, and his dad. Honestly.

He finds the three a few minutes later, all sat down by the lake.

Wheeler and Byers had been eating lunch at a picnic table and Steve was sitting in the dirt, trying to skip stones on the water and failing miserably.

"Never skipped a stone before, huh princess?" Billy speaks up before he can help himself.

They all turn quickly and Steve's mouth opens slightly like he's about to say something but then he shuts it.

"I'll take that as a yes, then. Wheeler. Byers." Billy nods at them as he walks past, plopping down beside Steve in the dirt and grabbing a flat rock.

"First off, it's gotta be flat." Billy starts and Steve digs around until he finds a flat stone to match Billy's.

Steve watches intently, eyes never leaving the rock in Billy's hand.

"Then you gotta put it between your thumb and middle finger. Like this." Billy adjusts Steve's fingers around the rock and Steve looks up at him with his mouth slightly agape.

"Then just put your index finger on the edge, angle your throw a little to the side and downwards- And-" Billy cuts himself off, tongue between his lips in concentration as he throws the stone.

It skips a good seven times before sinking below the surface.

Steve throws his after, it skips three times, which is more than his previous score of zero. 

"There ya go. You got it, Harrington." Billy grins up at him to find Steve's already got his eyes on him.

They stare at each other for a good two minutes before Jonathan and Nancy walk down to the water and start skipping stones as well.

"You eat anything yet?" Steve asks quietly, looking back over at the water, his cheeks pink.

"Nah. Skipped lunch to come find you." Billy shrugs, standing up and dusting off his jeans.

"Come on. I have an idea." Steve grins, jumping up and grabbing Billy's wrist before tugging him off.

Nancy and Jonathan stare after them curiously.

 

"This was your idea? Didn't think you had it in you, Harrington. Pretty hot." Billy snorts as Steve climbs through the window to the kitchen.

"You coming or you gonna stare at my ass for another five minutes?" Steve huffs, climbing over the counter and landing not so gracefully on the floor.

"Why, you gonna turn around for me?" Billy raises an eyebrow and smirks.

Steve does a little twirl around and Billy laughs loudly, throwing his head back, his golden curls bouncing in the sun.

"Alright, come on asshole. You're gonna get us caught." Steve grins, marvelling in the beautiful sound that is Billy Hargroves laugh, holding his hand out for Billy to grab.

Billy grabs his hand and climbs through, landing much more gracefully than Steve had.

"So what's the plan then?" Billy follows Steve through the huge kitchen to a large steel fridge in the corner.

Steve swings the fridge door open and shoves a six pack into Billy's arms and then piles a pack of hamburger patties down on top.

"Saw a grill down near the lake. I'm shit at cooking but the beer should help with that." Steve shrugs, searching through the cabinets for some buns as Billy follows after him.

"I'll cook. You can just sit, drink beer, and look pretty." Billy grins cheekily as he nods towards the buns at the opposite end of the counter.

"You can cook?" Steve furrows his eyebrows and turns to face Billy.

"Yeah. My mom taught me a few things before she died. Most of them illegal but- Yeah, she taught me how to make a damn good burger." Billy shrugs shyly, looking down.

Why the fuck does he talk when he's around Steve? It's honestly a tragedy.

"Hm. Illegal, yeah?" Steve raises an eyebrow with a grin as they make their way out of the kitchen and back down to the lake.

They're walking down a dirt path when Billy finally responds.

"She taught me how to shoot a gun when I was eight. Taught me how to drive when I barely knew how to walk. Taught me how to play guitar. How to pickpocket and pick locks and hotwire cars and how to roll a blunt- My personal favorite. But yeah. We lived in a shitty area. Had to know that stuff I guess." Billy mumbles with a small grin, staring down at the dirt path.

"You know how to play guitar?" Steve says with wide, curious eyes, his lips slightly parted.

Billy really wants to kiss his stupid fucking face.

He just shrugs and nods instead.

"You'll have to show me sometime." Steve hums, his neck and cheeks flushing when Billy looks up at him with a smile.

"Yeah. Alright."  
\---

 

"These are so fucking good Bill!" Steve moans as he takes a bite of his second burger.

"Yeah? Thanks princess." Billy grins with a small laugh as he takes a bite of his, both of them sat atop a picnic table, staring out at the water.

"So uh- How did your um- Mom..?" Steve trails off towards the end, staring down at the ground.

"She drove off one night, didn't come back for a few weeks so I figured she just finally had it with my pops. Then the cops show up one night, saying they found her body and her car. She parked somewhere along the Pacific Coast Highway and just- jumped." Billy shrugs, brushing his hands off on his jeans and looking over at Steve.

"M'sorry." Steve says quietly, looking up at Billy.

"Eh don't worry about it. She's better off now. Wish I was brave enough to do what she did sometimes. Sometimes I think I could. But if I'm gonna- My cars coming to the grave with me." Billy mumbles with a sad grin, shrugging slightly.

"Don't. I mean- Don't do that. Please." Steve says quickly, reaching his hand out and placing it over Billy's.

"Why? You gonna miss me if I do?" Billy grins softly, looking down at their hands.

"I- Yeah." Steve mutters, looking away.

"Thanks." Billy says quietly, looking forward at the water, their hands still touching. Neither one of them moves.


	2. wild thing (the troggs)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> posting the chaps. i have so far. hope you guys actually like this. starting to reread everything i've written and currently feeling like a huge flop. oh well.

"Harrington. Wake up." Billy mumbles, kneeling beside his bed and poking the small dimple in his cheek.

"Hm?" Steve blinks tiredly, squinting over at Billy in the dark.

"I got an idea. Get up. Come on." Billy pulls his covers off and holds out a hand.

Steve reluctantly grabs his hand and lets Billy pull him out of bed. Billy tosses Steve his jacket and nikes and pulls him out of the cabin before he has a chance to put them on.

"So what exactly are we doing at- One in the morning?" Steve sighs, hopping on one foot as he tugs on his shoe and follows Billy.

Billy unzips the backpack he's holding to reveal a shit ton of toilet paper and a few cartons of eggs.

"Oh my god." Steve rubs a hand over his face but keeps following anyways.

"S'our first dead moms club meeting so I figured we'd have a little fun." Billy shrugs, stopping in front of the dining hall and setting his bag down.

"I mean I guess if it's for the club." Steve shrugs back with a small smirk, grabbing a roll of toilet paper and turning to Billy.

"Alright, on the count of three. Ready?" Billy turns to Steve.

"Okay." Steve laughs quietly, a grin on his face.

"One.. Two.. Three!" Billy whispers, both of them throwing their rolls at the same time.

Within the next five minutes, the whole dining hall is covered in eggs and toilet paper and Billy and Steve are on the ground laughing and clutching at their stomachs, breathing heavily.

"Shit Harrington." Billy wheezes, both of them rolling onto their sides as the laughing dies down.

"Man this is the most fun I've had in- Well.. Ever?" Steve smiles over at Billy who smiles back.

"Just you wait, princess. Still got a good 5 days left. Your mind'll be blown." Billy grins.

His grin falls when they lock eyes and he gulps.

He thinks about all the terrible decisions he's made in his life and can't find it in himself to put kissing Steve Harrington right now down as one of those decisions.

So he leans in slowly, giving Steve the next move.

Steve leans in and his eyes flutter shut slightly.

"Hey! Who's out there?!" 

They both pull back with wide eyes and Billy drags Steve up off the ground.

"Run." He says firmly, tugging Steve to run with him as Steve stands there dumbfounded.

"Jesus christ man." Billy pants quietly as he pulls Steve down into the bushes.

The guy with the flashlight runs right past.

Steve breaks out into laughter after a few seconds of silence and Billy raises an eyebrow at him.

"You alright there?" Billy asks in confusion, leaning back on the palms of his hands.

"That- That was fun. We should do that again." Steve quiets down a little and a huge grin covers his face as he looks at Billy with sparkly eyes.

"I have a better idea for tomorrow night. Come on. Let's get back before they do bunk checks." Billy pushes himself up and holds out his hand for Steve.

Steve grabs his hand and Billy pulls him up into his chest.

They stand there for a few seconds, faces inches apart.

"Don't punch me for saying this- But you look really beautiful right now." Steve mumbles, their eyes locked.

"Yeah. You too." Billy says breathlessly, his brain about to explode.

"Really, really.. Yeah." Steve murmurs in a daze.

"Alright sleepyhead. Back to the cabin." Billy breaks out of the stare and shakes his head lightly before starting to walk back.

Steve takes a deep breath before following.  
\---

"Man wake the hell up. Carol and Amy wanted to go hiking this morning." Tommy shoves at Billy's arm, standing on the ladder of his bunk.

"Who t'fuck is Amy?" Billy groans, rubbing a hand over his face.

"The chick from the dining hall. You know- Blonde, huge tits? Wants to hop on your dick like some bitch in heat?" Tommy scoffs, rolling his eyes.

"We start group activities today, we can't." Billy murmurs, pressing his face back down into his pillow.

"We have like three hours before group! Get up so I can get my dick sucked, Billy! Fucking christ man." Tommy whines pathetically, tugging at Billy's covers.

Billy shoves him and he swings around the ladder in an attempt not to fall, and ends up on top of Steve who's looking at him with wide, alert eyes.

"You okay Harrington?" Billy grumbles from his bed, popping his head over the edge.

"I'm fine. Thanks, Billy." Tommy grunts, shoving off of Steve and tugging on his jacket angrily.

"Hey man, don't get poison ivy on your dick." Billy calls out as Tommy slams the screen door.

"You wanna go get breakfast Hargrove?" Steve yawns, stretching his arms once he's sat up.

"Sure." Billy hops down off his bunk and stretches his shirtless back.

Steve stares with wide eyes as the muscles flex.

Billy throws a wink over his shoulder before tugging on a white t-shirt and some flannel pajama pants over his boxers. Billy tosses Steve his sweatpants from off the floor and not so casually watches Steve pull them up over his ass. Steve still doesn't manage to notice.

"Want me to bring my walkman?" Steve asks as he tugs on a black hoodie.

"Hm depends. You gonna make me listen to Toto?" Billy raises his eyebrows and crosses his arms.

"You saw that?" Steve blushes as he grabs the walkman and looks through his bag at his tapes.

"Yeah. Honestly expected so much more from you." Billy sighs dramatically.

"In my defense-... Well I really don't have one actually." Steve huffs, pulling out The Troggs tape.

"The Troggs? Who the hell are they?" Billy snorts as Steve slides the tape in and leans the headset towards him, both of them walking out of the cabin and down the dirt road to the dining hall.

Wild Thing starts blasting through the headphones.

"Cute." Billy grins up at Steve.

"Guilty pleasure I guess. My mom used to dance to them around the kitchen with my dad while they were making dinner. You know, before my dad became a cold, heartless bastard." Steve shrugs slightly, a small frown on his face.

"Guess we can start the dickhead dads club too then? Double trouble." Billy snorts, throwing his arm around Steve's shoulders.

"You ever think of telling someone about what your dad does?" Steve says quietly, looking down.

"Didn't just think, I actually did. Got put in a few foster homes, always ended up back with him. The foster homes were worse. Believe me." Billy gulps, moving his arm from Steve's shoulders and opening the door to the dining hall.

"Well if you ever wanna get away from him, my house is always empty. Dads off screwing some secretary in Canada or committing fraud or something." Steve flushes, shrugging slightly.

"You inviting me to a sleepover, princess?" Billy grins, knocking their sides together as they walk towards the breakfast line.

"Yeah, maybe I am." Steve shrugs, grabbing a tray and piling some waffles onto a plate. 

Eleven would be jealous, he thinks to himself.

"Maybe I'll take you up on that offer.. I mean if you don't get sick of me by the end of this trip." Billy snorts, grabbing an apple and following Steve to a table once he's finished grabbing his stuff.

"You've already beat my face in, Bill. If I was gonna get sick of you, probably would've happened a long time ago." Steve grins, biting into a waffle.

"I said sorry." Billy sighs, staring at his apple sadly.

"Because Max told you to." Steve rolls his eyes.

"No. Max told me to apologize to Sinclair. I just kept seeing your face in the hallways and I went to sleep feeling like a monster. I didn't wanna do that to you. I don't wanna do that to anyone, ever. I'm just like my shithead dad, you know? I saw you and I figured to hell with it. You deserved an apology the most. God you deserved so much more. I was awful. Still am. Trying to work on it, though." Billy mumbles, looking down at the table.

"You're nothing like your dad and you won't be. It takes a lot to realize you did something wrong and it takes even more to try and fix it. Trust me, I've been there. But it makes you all the better for it." Steve nudges Billy's shoe with his under the table until their ankles are wrapped around one anothers.

"Wish I had someone like you growing up." Billy scoffs, throwing his apple into the trash can across the room skillfully.

"Well you have me now." Steve shrugs, holding out a waffle for Billy which he takes with a small smile.

"Thanks, Harrington."  
\---

"You know- You really fucking suck man. Carol and Amy pissed off to god knows where in the middle of our hike and left me with blue balls! You're bein' a huge fag, bro." Tommy huffs as he swallows down a beer, throwing the can onto the ground.

"Call me that again and I'll rip your fucking balls off. Got it, bro?" Billy spits out, getting in his face before leaning down and picking up the can.

"What? You gonna run off and hang out with your queer little buddy, Harrington?" Tommy gets back in his face, his freckles hidden by how red his face had turned.

Billy feels his fists clenching up and he's about to swing when he hears Steve jogging up to them with a 'Hey Bill.'

Billy crushes the can in his hand instead and tosses it into a nearby bin, turning to face Steve.

"Hey. Wanna go do something?" Billy asks, ignoring Tommy's scoff from behind him.

"Er- Yeah. You okay?" Steve raises an eyebrow, looking over Billy's shoulder at a fuming Tommy before looking back at Billy.

"Fine." Billy mumbles, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it between his lips.

"Have fun ya fucking twinks." Tommy mutters out.

Billy turns and his fist is going for Tommy's face.

Steve catches his arm and tugs him back, struggling against him.

"Fuck you! I'll kill you!" Billy yells, eyes dark and face red.

"Bill. Hey. Hey. Calm down. Don't be like him." Steve says quietly, softly, as he rubs his thumb over the tense muscles in Billy's bicep.

Billy calms down a bit and stops fighting against Steve's hold.

"You need a leash for him Harrington. You know how wild bitches can get." Tommy snorts out, stepping forward and reaching out to touch Billy.

Steve steps in front of Billy and knees Tommy straight in the nuts and when he bends over with a grunt, Steve sends his knee up into Tommy's nose.

Blood goes flying everywhere and Tommy falls back onto the ground with a wince, clutching at his face.

"Alright. Let's go. I'm done here." Steve mumbles, turning and tugging a dumbfounded Billy along with him.

"So- You get to beat people up but when I do it- I'm a psycho?" Billy pouts as Steve pulls his walkman out of his jacket pocket.

"No. When you do it, you do it blindly and out of pent up rage. Now take a headphone and listen to some fucking Bowie man." Steve holds out the headset and tilts his head to the side.

"Bowie's pretty queer, you know?" Billy says quietly, leaning into the headphones.

"Yeah. I know. Why- You got a problem with him?" Steve furrows his eyebrows as they start walking down a path into the woods.

"No. Do you?" Billy bites back, chewing down on his bottom lip.

"No. I don't." Steve looks over at him.

"My dad does." Billy states quietly, looking down at the ground.

"With Bowie or...?" Steve gulps, knowing he's stepping into unmarked territory.

"He's a huge fag hater alright? He's a racist and- He hates women and he hates me. He hates me so much, Steve. He really fucking hates me." Billy breathes out, his eyes brimming with tears as he shoves the headset away and puts his hands over his face.

"You're eighteen next month, right?" Steve raises an eyebrow, shoving the walkman into his pocket and turning to face Billy.

"How'd you know?" Billy scoffs wetly, rubbing at his runny nose with the back of his sleeve.

"Max asked me to take her to the mall. Said she was getting you a present. I sort of got you one too. And anyways, you're gonna be eighteen. You can do anything you want. Your smart, you've probably got like eight scholarships lined up and a million acceptance letters. You can go anywhere. Prove your asshole dad wrong." Steve says quietly, moving Billy's hands from his face.

"I can't do anything I want. I'll never fucking be able to. I'll wake up every night with nightmares from the asshole who burned me with cigarettes when I was a kid or the foster mom I had who got a little too touchy in the bath and I'll never be able to get married to who I want to- And I'll never be able to get better- I'm gonna be a bitter asshole like my dad. Drink myself to death, all alone. You know how scary it is to be awake at night, staring up at the ceiling for hours and wondering if there's even gonna be a single person at your funeral? Crying like some little bitch until you fall asleep convincing yourself it's alright. Bad people deserve to die alone. I deserve it." Billy shrugs, wiping at his eyes viciously to stop the tears from coming out.

Steve turns and pulls Billy into his arms. He struggles to pull out of the embrace but eventually just sinks into Steve's arms.

"You're not a bad person and you're not going to die alone. You're not gonna turn out like your dad, okay? And neither am I. We have to stick together, y'know, being in the dickhead dads club and all." Steve holds him tightly.

"And the dead moms club too." Billy mumbles weakly, into Steve's hoodie, his face smushed into his chest.

"Plus.. You've got Max. I know you two are like- Assholes to each other, but you care about one another. So don't think for a second, me and Maxine are gonna let your sorry ass die alone and sad." Steve smirks, shoving Billy's shoulder with a soft smile on his face.

"Thanks Harrington." Billy shrugs with a grin, knocking their shoulders together as they continue walking.

"So what are we now? Best friends? Pals? Bros?" Steve wiggles his eyebrows with a smirk.

"Fuck off. Hahahaha." Billy smiles down at the ground, laughter bubbling out of him.

"Never!" Steve sighs dramatically, clinging to Billy's arm.

"Alright Hollywood- We gotta get our sorry asses to group." Billy huffs, tugging Steve back out of the woods.  
\---

"Hi everyone, welcome to Hawkins Highs' twenty second annual camping trip. Hope you've all had a good few days settling in here. Today we're going to be starting off with some student bonding activities. Everyone will be assigned a group and then we'll head off to the lake for some canoeing. Your team of four will have two canoes with two team mates in each, the goal is to make it across the lake and back before any other team. Winners of todays group activity get an ice cream party tonight in the dining hall!" The principal announces cheerily as Billy knocks his knees against Steve's.

Steve looks up with a smile and knocks their knees together again.

Mr. Brown, the Chemistry teacher, stands up and quiets everyone down before reading off the group lists.

Steve ends up with Tommy, Amy and Jonathan.

Billy ends up with Nancy, Carol and Keith.

They make their way down to the lake and Steve nudges Billy with his elbow.

"M'gonna kick your ass, just saying." Steve shrugs with a grin.

"You wish, pretty boy." Billy smacks his ass before heading off to his group and leaving Steve blushing like crazy.

"Alright you dipshits better not suck or I'm throwing you all out." Billy crosses his arms as he glares at Nancy, pointedly.

"Hargrove, I will hit you in the face with a paddle if you try any of that shit." Nancy huffs, glaring back.

 

They all get in their canoes, Nancy with Billy and Steve with Jonathan.

Tommy and Amy paddle closely to the side of Steve and Jonathan, Tommy knocking their canoes together purposefully.

"Would you knock it off man?" Jonathan huffs.

"Oh god. Look at Billy go. He's so ripped. Ugh." Amy bites her lip and watches Billy and Nancy paddle the canoe. Billy's shirtless, of course, which Steve usually wouldn't be complaining but it's so damn distracting. 

"Can you go faster and stop staring at him, jesus fuck." Steve grumbles, paddling ahead of them.

"What? You jealous queen Steve?" Tommy snorts, knocking into their canoe again.

"I'm not jealous of shit, Tommy. Stop being a prick." Steve glares back at him. Okay, sure, he was a little jealous.

Tommy reaches his arms out and shoves Steve out of the canoe and into the water.

He comes up rubbing his eyes.

"You're a fuckin-" Steve begins but then Tommy's being hit in the face with a paddle and falling into the water himself.

"Need a hand princess?" Billy grins, holding his hand out as him and Nancy pull up beside them.

"Did you just hit him in the face with a paddle?" Steve sighs as Billy pulls him up, Steve falling into Billy's arms, completely soaked and pressed against his bare chest.

"Was worth it." Billy mumbles, their faces inches apart.

"Alright off you go." Nancy says quickly, pulling Steve off and tossing him over to Jonathan who lets out a weak grunt.

"Fuck you Hargrove!" Tommy yells as Billy and Nancy paddle away.

"Well now we're not getting ice cream." Amy pouts as Billy and Nancy's team makes it to the end.

"Jesus." Jonathan snorts, paddling him and Steve back to the shore.

 

"So Hargrove- What are your intentions with Steve?" Nancy mutters under her breath, turning to face him in the canoe as they sit idly at the finish line, everyone clearing out.

"Have no clue what your talking about, Wheeler." Billy sighs, hopping out into the shallow water and pushing the canoe up to the dock.

"Look- I'm not playing around here Billy. I know you're gay. So if you screw over Steve, I will not hesitate to drown your sorry ass." Nancy grabs his wrist and pulls him in close.

"How the fuck am I gonna screw him over any more than I already have? I'm trying to make up for being a huge douchebag." Billy grumbles out, tugging his arm away. It was the half truth. 

"So you don't... You don't like Steve?" Nancy furrows her eyebrows.

"I'm gay, not stupid. I'm not supposed to fall for straight guys. Trust me, I already spent the first half of the year here pining over that asshole and look where it ended up, I pounded his pretty little face in." Billy glares at her, tying the canoe up to the dock. 

"He's not- I mean- He's... He's just never said he was straight." Nancy mumbles out, standing up and heading off to the group.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Billy yells after her.

She flips him off and slides under Jonathans arm.

Steve waves over at Billy with a small smile.

He smiles softly and waves back.

He's definitely still fucking pining.


	3. fooled around and fell in love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shortest chapter so far but this one is a bit diiiiiiirty and awkward sooooo

"Brought you back some ice cream." Billy hums as he nudges Steve over on his bunk and lies next to him, handing him the ice cream.

"What? No ice cream for me Hargrove?" Jonathan frowns from his bunk.

"Nope." Billy pops the p and grabs Steve's walkman off the bedside table.

"S'really good. Thanks Bill." Steve mumbles around a spoonful of vanilla ice cream.

"Mhm. Anything for you, princess." Billy grins cheekily, leaning over and rifling through Steve's bag for a cassette tape.

"Hmm Chocolate flavoured lube? Who the hell are you banging that's so tight you need this shit." Billy scoffs, pulling it out of Steve's bag.

Jonathan accidentally falls off of his bunk.

Steve chokes on his spoonful of ice cream.

"Guess I should've got you chocolate flavoured ice cream." Billy shrugs, popping open the cap and slowly dripping some onto his fingers.

"What um- Are ya doin'?" Steve swallows, setting down the ice cream slowly, eyes wide.

"Just having a taste." Billy hums, sticking his two lube coated fingers into his mouth all the way to his knuckles and pulling them out slowly.

Steve freezes and stares at Billy for a good minute.

"So how did it taste?" Jonathan sighs from the floor, breaking their staring contest.

"Like chocolate and silicone, Byers. Jesus fuck, get off the floor." Billy turns with a groan and throws the lube back into Steve's bag, going back to rifling.

"Steve man, are you gonna come to that campfire tonight with me and Nance?" Jonathan raises an eyebrow as he stands up.

"Campfire?" Steve asks in confusion.

"Yeah. Some girls invited Nancy and well- Nancy invited us?" Jonathan shrugs, messing with his hair.

"Can Bill come?" Steve yawns, stretching as Billy pulls out a tape.

"Who the fuck is Elvin Bishop?" Billy snorts as he eyes the thing.

"What the hell do you mean, 'who is Elvin Bishop?' He's a legend, you dipshit!" Steve scoffs, jaw dropped open and arms crossing.

"S'not that great if I haven't heard of him." Billy snorts quietly, popping the tape in anyways.

"Prepare to have your world rocked." Steve grins widely as Billy wiggles his eyebrows and presses play.

"Alright well you two can head to the campfire whenever you're done with your lovey-dovey bullshit." Jonathan rolls his eyes before starting to head out the door.

"Jee-sus. We're coming Byers. Get your head outta your ass." Billy sighs, stuffing the walkman into his pocket and tugging Steve to the door with him.

"There better be smores or I'm fucking leaving." Steve mutters as Billy's hand slowly drags down his wrist and falls away.  
\----

 

"So what do you think?" Steve smirks as they sit with their shoulders pressed up against each other.

The fire had been sky high and everyone either had a beer or a blunt. How this managed to get past the school counselors was beyond them all. Billy and Steve had sat in the circle around the fire and Billy had been listening to Elvin Bishop the whole time. 

"M'only finishing track four, Steven. Calm the hell down." Billy rolls his eyes fondly as he pulls out a cigarette and places it between his lips.

He reaches for his lighter to no avail. It's gone.

"Shit. You have a light?" Billy groans, throwing his head back.

"Yeah. Here." Steve pulls a lighter from his pocket and holds it open for Billy.

Instead of taking the lighter itself, Billy drags Steve's hand along and lights it slowly, locking eyes with Steve before pulling his head back and exhaling smoke.

Fooled Around and Fell in Love starts playing over the walkman and Billy stares at Steve for a minute to long, his cigarette dangling between his fingers as the fire reflects off of both of their eyes.

Jonathan snaps a picture from where he's sat by the water.

They both start leaning forward slightly.

Suddenly, some blonde screams out, "Spin the bottle, bitches!" and everyone gathers in a smaller circle beside the fire where Steve and Billy had sat.

They both cough awkwardly and Billy tugs off the walkman and sets it beside Steve.

"Cool." Billy swallows down the lump in his throat as Amy plops down next to him and places a hand on his leg.

Steve nudges the side of Billy's thigh softly with his fingers before placing his hand back in his lap and staring forward at the bottle. Billy bites his lip and smiles down at the dirt.

He loves Elvin Bishop.

 

They were halfway through everyone in the circle and luckily, the bottle had avoided Billy and Steve. Amy's hand had made its way up to Billy's dick only for Billy to shift over into Steve and accidentally sit on Steve's hand.

Steve pushed up his fingers to pull out his hand but Billy let out a small muffled moan at the contact. Steve flushed and pushed his fingers up again. Billy started to squirm slightly, his eyes wide and his cheeks a dark red.

"Amy your turn!" The girl next to Amy grinned wickedly, smirking over at Billy.

Amy spun the bottle and it landed on Jonathan but the girl beside Amy quickly nudged it so it pointed at Billy.

"Hey! It was on By- eRS- Fuck." Billy starts to protest but Steve moves his hand and Billy lets out a whine.

"Oh c'mon Billy." Amy smiles bashfully, turning and tugging him in by the front of his shirt.

Their lips barely touch before he's pulling back and standing up, tugging Steve up with him.

"We're gonna go get more beer. Right Harrington?" Billy gulps, his hand squeezing Steve's wrist.

"Yep. Beer." Steve nods with a grin.

"I'll see you later Billy!" Amy calls as Billy pulls Steve through the woods quickly.

"She seems nice." Steve hums as Billy pulls him along quietly.

"Fuck off." Billy laughs, grinning over at him.

"So are we actually getting beer?" Steve quirks an eyebrow.

"Nah. Everyone's distracted. Thought now was as good a time as ever to fuck with everyone. Mess something up. Wreak havoc. You know?" Billy waves around his hands dramatically as Steve follows him down to the girls cabins.

"Sweeeeeet. What are we doing down here then?" Steve stretches his arms as Billy opens the door to one of the girls cabins.

"Decorating some flag poles, Harrington." Billy grins widely, dangling a bra in the air.

"You're awful." Steve sighs, crossing his arms in the doorway.

"You love me, Harrington. Don't deny it." Billy wiggles his tongue before tossing a bra at Steve.

It lands on his head and Billy lets out a loud laugh as Steve grimaces and holds it out in front of him.

"Love wouldn't accurately describe how I'm currently feeling. More like murderous maybe." Steve huffs as he moves to grab some bras.

They clear out the next few cabins, awkwardly stumbling in on some random girl who was taking a hit from a bong and listening to wham on her small boombox.

"Wham sucks!" Billy yells as Steve quickly pulls him out.

They drop the piles full of bras down on the ground in front of the camp rec center where the flag pole is.

"Think you can get chlamydia from a bra?" Billy grimaces as he kicks one with his foot.

It's pink and has white and brown stains on it.

"Let's hope not. Anyways we're probably gonna deserve it after this." Steve shrugs.

"Alright get on my shoulders Harrington." Billy stuffs a few bras into Steve's hands and then kneels down.

"Jesus christ." Steve mutters before wrapping his legs around Billy's head, sort of.

"Do you even eat, princess?" Billy grins as he stands up easily, Steve wobbling a bit.

"Yes. Like all the time. I love food." Steve rolls his eyes, tying the first bra up.

"You got a favorite food?" Billy hums as Steve gets to work tying more up.

"Bennys burgers are the best. Were- I mean. He died. But yeah. Best burgers. I just love burgers, man. I don't know. You made a good burger the other day too. Definitely top three." Steve smiles down at him after tying another bra.

"You'd love In-N-Out burger, now that is some real shit. Gonna have to take you to one sometime." Billy laughs, shaking his head.

"You're gonna take me to California? That so?" Steve grins widely.

Billy's eyes go wide and he gulps.

"I mean- N- No I-" Billy starts rambling but Steve cuts him off.

"I'm holding you to it now, Hargrove. No backing out. You owe me the best burger Cali's got to offer." Steve jumps down off of Billy's shoulders and claps his hands together with a grin.

"Alright. You got it, Harrington." Billy bites his lip, looking up at him.


	4. just your fool (elvin bishop)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i move things so quickly ugh fuck it  
> i just want them to fuck right away you kno?  
> i have zero patience oops

Billy and Steve wake up to someone screaming from halfway across the campground. Shortly after there are more screams. 

Steve pops his head over the edge of Billy's bed and grins cheekily.

Billy winks and smirks before shutting his eyes and pulling the covers over his head.

Billy woke up with a terrible case of morning wood and he blamed Harrington. Now he was trapped in his bed for the next ten minutes until his dick calmed itself.

"Wanna go get breakfast?" Steve yawns, standing up and stretching.

"M'tired. Go without me." Billy grumbles from under his covers.

"Right. Okay." Steve nods quietly, grabbing his blanket and laying it over Billy before heading out of the cabin.

Billy peeks out from under the covers and squeezes his eyes shut.

It fucking smells like Harrington and his boner gets worse. He's also pretending his heart is not cartwheeling around in his chest.

"Morning wood, eh Hargrove?" Jonathan snorts from where he's walking out of the bathroom with a toothbrush in his mouth.

"Fuck off. Where's Tommy?" Billy sighs, sitting up.

"Breakfast with the rest of your goons." Jonathan shrugs from the doorway.

"Is Wheeler there?" Billy asks, concern lacing his voice.

"Yeah, I'm going to meet her, why?" Jonathan furrows his eyebrows.

Billy jumps down from the bed and quickly runs to the door to see Steve is long gone.

"Shit shit shit." Billy mumbles, grabbing some pants off the floor and tugging them on while jumping around.

"What's wrong?" Jonathan snorts.

"Steve may have broken Tommy's nose." Billy mumbles, trying to squeeze his boner into his pants.

"Shit." Jonathan huffs, tugging on his shoes and throwing his toothbrush into the sink.

They both rush out of the door and down to the breakfast hall to see a huge group of people circling something.

Billy pushes through with Jonathan behind him to see Steve on the ground with Tommy on top of him, FAG written on Steve's face in huge red letters.

Nancy is holding out a switchblade and pointing it at Tommy as he slowly moves off of Steve.

Billy hurries over and pulls up Steve, moving him in back of Nancy, Jonathan following.

"Jesus it's the fucking Culture Club everyone! Queers had it coming!" Tommy yells, Carol pulling him back.

"What the hell is wrong with you asshole? You wanna fucking die?" Billy stalks forward and grabs Tommy by the hair before shoving his face into the wall of the rec center.

"Don't worry Billy, we won't fuck with you because you're the top right? The straight one? Making Harrington your bitch." Tommy cackles, spit flying from his mouth.

Billy slams his cheek into the brick again and gets close to his face.

"I ever see you go near him again, I will kill you. I will rip your throat out with my bare fucking teeth. Stay the fuck away." Billy lowers his voice so only Tommy can hear him, speaking through his teeth, Tommy stilling under his grip.

Billy lets go and grabs Steve, Nancy and Jonathan following as Billy pulls Steve back to the cabin.

"He had a whole group of guys. I could've taken just him." Steve mumbles, rubbing at his face.

"I know, Harrington. Now let's get you cleaned up, okay?" Billy sighs, pushing some hair out of Steve's face as he nudges him through the screen door.

"Thanks, Billy." Nancy mumbles as she walks in with Jonathan behind her.

Billy sits Steve down beside the bathroom sink and runs a rag under some water.

Nancy and Jonathan argue quietly in the doorway.

"God I'm gonna fucking kill him." Billy huffs as he stands in between Steve's legs and rubs the marker off gently.

"It's just marker, Bill." Steve sighs, looking down.

"He pinned you down and wrote fag on your face, Steve. If I see his ugly fucking face anywhere near you again, I'm gonna lose my shit." Billy grumbles, using a towel to dry off the water running down his cheek.

"We're not our dads, remember?" Steve says quietly, stilling Billy's wrist.

"My dad would've been the one writing it, Harrington. That's where you're wrong." Billy pulls his wrist out of Steve's grip and goes back to washing off his face.

When he gets it all off, he dries off his face and pats his cheek.

"Pretty as ever, princess." Billy grins sadly.

"Thank you." Steve mumbles, biting his lip and looking up at Billy.

"Yeah." Billy swallows down the lump in his throat and steps further into Steve's space.

Steve looks down and takes Billy's hand in his, playing with his fingers quietly while Billy just stares in a daze.

Steve brings Billy's palm up to his mouth and presses a kiss to the inside of it.

"Yeah. Thanks." Steve says softly before hopping down from the counter and walking out past Nancy and Jonathan.

 

And if Tommy wakes up in a canoe in the middle of the lake with no paddles, it was 100% not Billy.  
\----

"Brought you breakfast." Steve yawns as he walks back into the cabin the next morning and sees Billy lying on his bed listening to his walkman.

Billy scoots over and pulls off the headphones.

"Huh?" Billy raises an eyebrow, looking down at the paper bag in Steve's hand.

"Oh my god, just take the bag." Steve huffs out a laugh and nudges Billy over, tossing the bag onto his chest.

Billy opens it and lets out a moan.

"You brought me food? Fuck." Billy starts digging through the bag and munches down on a waffle.

"Mhm. Whatcha listening to?" Steve grabs the walkman and puts in the headphones.

Billy blushes and shrugs, turning away and finishing his waffle.

"Elvin Bishop? Holy shit! I told you ya'd like him Bills!" Steve grins, humming along to track five.

"Some of his songs remind me of you." Billy mumbles bashfully, shrugging again.

"Oh yeah- Which ones?" Steve hums, smiling over at Billy.

"Actually Harrington. I gotta go. Byers and me are going to the lake and he's gonna show me some of his photography shit." Billy jumps up quickly when he sees Jonathan and pulls him out of the cabin, grabbing his camera bag.

"You're interested in photography?" Jonathan furrows his eyebrows as he stumbles after Billy.

"No. Just had to get outta there." Billy mumbles, sitting down in the sand and throwing some rocks as Jonathan sits down a few feet away setting up his camera.

"What did Steve do?" Jonathan snorts.

"Nothing. No- He's perfe- He's fine. Just wanna hang out with you- Ya know?" Billy shrugs.

"Bullshit. You're just trying not to jump him. But I'll let you have this one. Since you've been nice to him." Jonathan sighs.

"So you and fucking Nancy both know I'm basically fucking in love with him?" Billy groans, rubbing his hands over his face.

"Well no. I thought you were just looking to bang. But good to know." Jonathan snorts, setting the camera down.

Billy grabbed the video camera on accident and Jonathan may or may not be taking advantage of that.

"Dammit." Billy huffs, looking out at the water.

"I don't see what the problem is." Jonathan shrugs.

"Are you joking?" Billy rolls his eyes.

"Steve would gladly fuck you. Trust me. The first time he saw you in school, Nancy told me he had practically forgot she existed for a good few days. Shame you messed it up. Could've fucked  
him awhile ago." Jonathan says casually, shrugging again.

"Steve's gay?" Billy blinks at Jonathan.

"Well no. He's kinda both. But there's a reason he's only ever had one serious girlfriend." Jonathan wiggles his eyebrows.

"Wait so do you think he likes me?" Billy grins excitedly.

"Damn you really are in love with Steve aren't you?" Jonathan laughs softly.

"He just like- I don't know. He doesn't take my shit. He calls me out when I'm being an asshole and he puts me in my place. I need that. God I really fucking need that. And he's good. Great. Best person I know. Like he makes me wanna be better. And he's the most beautiful god damn human being on this planet- I almost wanna thank my shithead dad for moving us out here. I haven't felt like this about anyone- Ever. I hated him for like the first half of the year because he wouldn't pay a god damn second of attention to me. Which I guess was justified. I was an ass. Still am. Guess now I'm just an ass that's sort of in love with him." Billy mumbles, looking down at the sand and running his hands through it.

"You like actually... Love him?" Jonathan's eyes are wide as he lets out a low whistle.

"And you're not gonna fucking tell anyone." Billy narrows his eyes at Jonathan.

"But Nanc-" Jonathan begins but Billy holds his hand up.

"Especially not Wheeler." Billy huffs, lying back in the sand.

"So what are you gonna do about Steve then?" Jonathan leans back on his elbows and stares up at the sun.

"Nothing. Maybe write him a note before I leave after graduation. Hey I fucking had a huge gay crush on you. Later man." Billy hums, shutting his eyes.

Jonathan dumps a pile of sand on his face.

"Fuck!" Billy sits up quickly and shoves him with a groan.

"You do that to Steve and I will find and murder you. Got it, Hargrove?" Jonathan huffs, shoving him back.

"Well what the hell else would I do?" Billy rolls his eyes, dusting sand off himself.

"Ask him out." Jonathan says it like it's the most simple thing in the world.

Which it could be. But it isn't.

"Gay isn't exactly 'in' around here, Byers. Steve didn't even do any queer shit and Tommy did that to him. I'm not putting him in any more danger because I have stupid little fucking girl feelings." Billy huffs out, standing up.

"Steve can handle himself, Hargrove. Jesus if you really cared about him, you'd tell him that." Jonathan sighs, pushing himself up as well.

"I came out here to avoid my feelings and I honestly feel so attacked right now." Billy says dramatically, starting to head back to the cabin with Jonathan stumbling after him.

"Just think about telling him alright?" Jonathan frowns as he stops at the door to the cabin.

"Telling who what?" Steve raises an eyebrow as he rubs his eyes in the door frame.

"Nothing." Jonathan mumbles, shoving past Steve to get inside.

"Didn't know you and Jonathan were so close." Steve mumbles, raising an eyebrow at Billy.

"Thick as thieves, me and Johnny." Billy snorts, knocking his shoulder against Steve's with a smile.

"I'm gonna go hang out with Nancy." Steve shrugs with a blank face, heading down the steps and over to the girls cabins.

"Harrington...?" Billy calls, stopping him.

Steve turns and shoves his hands into his pockets, quirking an eyebrow.

"Just um.. Be careful. It's getting dark?" Billy bites his lip, looking down.

"Yep. Got it. You and Jonathan have fun." Steve sighs, leaving.

Billy punches the doorframe out of frustration and turns to glare at Jonathan.

"What? I took his girlfriend and his- You." Jonathan snorts, flopping down onto his bunk.  
\---

"Steve? Hey? Where's Billy?" Nancy raises an eyebrow as she opens the cabin door for him.

"With your boyfriend. Where's your bunk mates?" Steve pouts as he flops down onto a bed.

"Uh lunch or something I guess. What's up your ass?" She smiles awkwardly, sitting down next to him.

"Would it be weird if I told you that I like Billy Hargrove?" Steve furrows his eyebrows as he stares up at the planks from the bunk above.

"Weird yet incredibly true." Nancy sighs, lying back as well.

"Like I really like him. I wanna kiss him all the time." Steve mumbles.

"So do it." Nancy shrugs.

"Do you want me to die?" Steve huffs dramatically, glaring at her.

"You are an idiot, Steve Harrington." She sighs loudly, rolling her eyes.

"I fucking know. I have a huge love boner for Hargrove and it won't go away." Steve whines.

"No I mean- You're an idiot because you haven't noticed he wants you as well. Just- Plant one on him. No warning. Just- Go in." Nancy shrugs.

"You are absolutely no help." Steve groans, getting up and walking towards the door.

"Let me know how your honeymoon is!" Nancy giggles as he slams the door.

Steve stomps back to his cabin and flops down on his bed, ignoring Jonathan and Billy who had been playing cards on Tommy's bunk.

"Stev-" Jonathan starts but Steve flips him off.

Billy throws his hand of cards down and flops down beside Steve.

Steve turns to face him with a glare.

"Wanna go watch Mash with me in the rec hall tonight?" Billy asks quietly, biting down on his lip.

"What? Jonathan didn't wanna go?" Steve mutters.

"Nah he's going with Nancy. It's sort of a couples thing." Billy gulps, his cheeks flushing.

"Well you could ask that blonde." Steve shrugs with a frown.

"Jesus Harrington, I'm asking you." Billy sighs, rolling his eyes and sitting up.

"To a couples thing?" Steve snorts.

"Yep. You and me. At a couples thing." Billy mumbles, looking away.

"Like a date?" Steve raises his eyebrows and sits up.

"Yes. Now you want me to spell it out for you or write it down or some shit?" Billy groans, rubbing a hand over his face.

"Just say yes Steve, christ." Jonathan huffs from across the room.

"Will people know it's a date?" Steve swallows down the lump in his throat.

"Only if you want them to." Billy says quietly, catching Steve's gaze.

"Okay. Yeah. Let's go. Together. On a date." Steve stutters out, eyes wide.

**Author's Note:**

> soooo... how was it...?


End file.
